9/8/2023 0 Comments Vernal equinox meme![]() The reason is, this time, the hot summer season. For school year 2019, DedEd has announced however that it will stick to a June class opening. Those who gave thumbs up on the plan believe that pupils should be spared from rain, flood, and sickness common during the rainy month of June. I remember that some years ago, one of the reasons why DepEd considered shifting the start of academic calendar from June to August was the rains in the Philippines. Cherry blossoms bloom six months early in Japan, thanks to typhoon havoc. I think they don’t behave unusually (like when they come out when they’re not supposed to) but they just react to the prevailing climatic conditions. The common indicators of the rainy season are swarms of winged termites (simut-simut), which comes out first, followed by the beetles which appear after days or weeks. In our locality, there are signs telling us the onset of rainy season. According to the report by Cole (2018), the reason for the phenomenon was likely the storms stripping trees of their leaves, which are crucial for the release of hormones that stop premature flowering, combined with the unusually warm weather that followed the typhoons, may have "tricked" the trees into flowering. Last year, there was a report that the cherry blossoms bloomed six months earlier that expected in Japan. I agree that plants and animals sense what is happening in the environment and that is why they behave “unusually”. But will the signs come on time? In succeeding years, will Japan's cherry trees bloom on Sakura? Will the Tajik winters end by Navruz? Will the kapok cotton balls cover the sunken gardens of Los Banos to signal graduation rites? When the signs of the season change and the symbolism gets disjointed, will our festivals and rites lose their meanings as well? These festivals and rites are tied with signs and meanings associated with the Vernal Equinox. ![]() This is why graduations are called commencement exercises, signifying the beginning of a new career, the start of a life of practice. Graduations are held within this season since the Vernal Equinox signifies new beginnings, rebirths and transformations. ![]() An event where we in the academe would don our colors, not unlike the women of Dushanbe, and participate in an academic procession towing the newly raised, passed or initiated doctors, masters and bachelors behind us. There is yet another event of significance that we associate with the Vernal Equinox. Easter falls within the season, the resurrection coinciding with the rebirth of life on earth, the entrance of the ancient New Year. The Vernal Equinox signals the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It occurs twice a year commonly on the 21 of March and on the 21 of September. An equinox marks the time of the year when the length of day is equal to the length of night. Traditionally, these festivals coincide with an event which has been observed all over the world for ages. It was the start of Navruz, a six-day festival marked by colorful Tajik dresses and bandanas, visiting Afghan horsemen, shaslik, palav and flowing vodka. University colleagues Nes Balmores, Nemah Hermosa and I spent the first day of spring 2007 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Japanese have Sakura or the Cherry Blossom festival. Songkran and Pi Mai have counterpart festivals in temperate climes as well. Barely a couple of months later it has become so hot that you would welcome the cold water that Pi Mai well-wishers would douse you with. In late January, it was so cold in the Northern provinces that classes had to be suspended in some areas. Ambient temperatures in Vientiane have changed from 8 degrees Celsius in February to 36 degrees Celsius in March. In Laos, it is called PI Mai, traditionally the hottest time of the year. Songkran is celebrated not only in Thailand but in other countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion as well. Up north, the mango trees have already bloomed while in Bangkok other trees are already shedding their leaves prematurely. But this Songkran is quite different from those of previous years. Thailand was preparing for the Songkran festival or the Thai New Year. For instance, the bio-indicators of climate change are so pervasive that we tend not to perceive them in the changes that are all around us this Lenten season.Ī week ago, Benjie and I were in Bangkok visiting our grandson (and his Mom and Dad, of course). Even the most obvious can be taken for granted. The signals that we get from our environment range from the subtle to the obvious. ![]()
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